Baikal coast: KBZHD, healing springs of Arshan and a meeting with a shaman

Day of crossings by various types of transport: water, rail, automobile. 

And all this day, Baikal will be on your left, so different, so big.

First, you will cross the source of the Angara River on a large steamship ferry and find yourself in the port of Baikal, a large railway and river port that cannot be reached by car. 

From here, the transfer begins on a special tourist train along the Circum–Baikal Railway - the "Golden Buckle of the Transsib", a stunning engineering and architectural monument of the early 20th century.

The trip is accompanied by a story about the history of construction, the unique features of the road. 

The number of tunnels and bridges on a fairly short stretch of the road is impressive when you remember the level of technology development at that time – everything was built manually, thoroughly, for centuries. 

By evening you will find yourself at the southernmost point of Lake Baikal, at the foot of the majestic Khamar-Daban mountains.

Transfer to the marina (~10 min.).

Ferry crossing to the port of Baikal (~ 40 min.).

Transfer by tourist train to the village. Slyudyanka (~ 8 hours).

Upon arrival in Slyudyanka, an autotransfer to the village. Kultuk (~ 20 km).

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner.

After breakfast, we will go to another famous town on the coast – Slyudyanka, the "mineralogical pearl of the Baikal region". 

Mica and marble are the main industrial minerals of these places.

But the hand-picked ones barely fit in the private museum "Gems of Baikal" by collector Zhigalov, where there are several thousand of them. 

He will also tell you about all the richness of the local places, comparable only to the Urals. 

Not far from the village, Shaman Cape extends into Lake Baikal for half a kilometer – a sacred place for Buryats, Mongols, a natural monument, a popular vacation spot for tourists and the local population. 

In ancient times, religious rituals were performed here and it was called Aikha-Shulun – the terrible stone. 

And again, moving along the hot asphalt of the road passing through a wide valley between two mountain ranges: on the left – Khamar-Daban, on the right – the Eastern Sayans. 

In this unique Tunka valley, you can see young volcanoes and old Buryat yurts, the gray peaks of the Tunka Loaches against the piercing blue sky. 

After driving 120 km, stopping at the Kultuk observation deck on the way, we get to the village of Arshan, located at the foot of overhanging mountain peaks, which makes it seem immersed in eternal shadow.

Transfer to Slyudyanka. Transfer to Arshan (~ 3 hours).

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast, dinner at the hotel, lunch at the cafe.

Excursion program in Slyudyanka.

Today you will explore the picturesque surroundings of the "Siberian Switzerland". 

It is better to take a tour of the village on foot, then you can see those details and little things of the local way of life that are invisible from the bus window. 

You will visit healing mineral springs (take a mug or even a plastic bottle with you), the beautiful mountain river Kyngarga, walk through the park of the Arshan resort with its natural monuments, pick up a souvenir in an entertaining market where souvenir rows are adjacent to sellers of local medicinal herbs for literally all diseases. 

Next– a walking tour along the forest road to the datsan Buddhist temple, where you will be told about its history, rules of conduct in datsans, Buddhism in Buryatia.

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast, dinner at the cafe.

Walking sightseeing tour of Arshan.

Today we continue to explore the picturesque surroundings and get acquainted with the amazing Tunka Valley. 

You will visit the crater of the extinct Talskaya Vershina volcano, see the cones of the Chersky and Kovrizhka volcanoes. 

You will hear about the distant past of the Tunka Valley since the Jurassic period, as well as exciting legends about the ancestor of the Buryat tribes of Bukha-noyon, the beautiful Kyngyrga. 

The Tunka Valley is often called the "Land of healing narzans" because of the abundance of mineral springs, which in their healing properties are not inferior to the famous waters of the Caucasus and the Carpathians. 

The methane baths of the Pearl spring are unique in their chemical composition. 

The hospital is located in a picturesque place on the right bank of the Irkut River.

You can swim in the pool with mineral water (for an additional fee), drink healing phyto tea, and taste Buryat cuisine (for an additional fee). 

Check in at the maral farm, where you will be told about antlers, which have healing properties.

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast, dinner at the hotel.

Tour of the Tunka Valley.

The road to Irkutsk passes in memories of the time spent, funny and funny incidents, interspersed with exclamations of surprise from the views outside the bus window. 

On the way, stop for lunch at a roadside cafe (for an additional fee).

And then to the very suburbs of Irkutsk – the Kultuksky tract with its serpentine mountain road, which is admired for its bends and the surrounding Siberian forest.

Transfer by regular transport to Irkutsk (210 km, ~ 5 hours).

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast at the hotel.

After breakfast, we go to get acquainted with the traditional religion of the Buryats – shamanism for an excursion and entertainment program in the village. Ust-Ordynsky is the capital of the Ust–Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug. 

Here you will visit the local museum of local lore, which tells about the culture, way of life, traditions and customs of the Western Buryats, as well as meet with a real shaman and be able to take part in the performance of one of the ancient rituals. 

And then, after all the rituals, you will be fed lunch, namely dishes of Buryat cuisine. 

The exchange of impressions from the trip will make the return to the city of Irkutsk quick and unnoticeable.

Transfer to the village. Ust-Ordynsky (~75 km). Return to Irkutsk.

Accommodation at the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the cafe.

Excursion program in Ust-Orda.

Sightseeing tour of the city: visit the historical center, the embankment of the Angara river, architectural monuments. 

Excursion to the Znamensky Monastery with one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Siberia, famous for its iconostasis and burials on the territory (graves of the Decembrists, Grigory Shelikhov, etc.). 

Visit to the central market and souvenir shop.

Meals included: breakfast at the hotel.
Sightseeing tour of Irkutsk. The approximate end time of the program is 13:00.